Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensex was ruling 49 points in the red during early trade today.

At 9.20 a. m., the 30 share index, which belled the day at 16,421.2 points, stood at 16,379.76, down 49.15 points as against its previous closure.

At the same time, National Stock Exchange's Nifty lost 15.75 points at 4,898.25.

Broader markets were, however, in the positive zone, with the BSE midcap index surged 0.13% and the BSE small cap index trading 0.27% up.

On Wednesday, Sensex ended at 16415.91 after gaining 189.23 points after hitting an intraday high of 16480.49 and an intraday low of 16228.91.

Nifty closed at 4910.75, up 55 points after touching an intraday high of 4929.70 and an intraday low of 4857.60.

Major gainers in the Sensex pack were Tata Steel (6.57%), Hindalco Industries (5.27%), Sterlite Industries (3.39%), HDFC Bank (3.13%) and Bharti Airtel (2.4%). (With Input from Agencies)